Foreign demand for US assets rises in Dec-Treasury

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Overseas demand for long-termU.S. assets grew in December as foreigners continued to buy bothgovernment debt and equities, the U.S. Treasury said on Friday.

Foreigners poured a net $64.2 billion into long-term U.S.securities in December, the most in four months, after buying aslightly revised $52.4 billion the prior month.

Purchases of U.S. Treasury debt rose to $29.9 billion from$26.4 billion. Private investors were the most active buyers,though China, the largest foreign U.S. creditor, also raised itsTreasury holdings by $19.7 billion to $1.203 trillion.